THE N3 highway across the Drakensberg mountain range which was closed because of heavy snowfalls in parts of KwaZulu-Natal during the week was reopened on Saturday. Meanwhile, eight hikers who were reported missing in the Cathedral Peak area of the Drakensberg on Friday were found on Saturday around 10am. KwaZulu-Natal provincial disaster management centre spokesman Charles Cary said that mountain club members and a police rescue dog found the hikers ”cold, confused and happy”. Snow has blanketed much of the Drakensberg, the Maluti Mountains and parts of the Mpumalanga highveld since Wednesday night. In Gauteng, dozens of families in Ebony Park, Kaalfontein and Diepsloot lost their homes after heavy storms in the area this week, the City of Johannesburg said. Meanwhile, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty against Animals (SPCA) also reported that the plight of animals caught in the cold snap was worse than expected. ”An urgent appeal is made for donations of fodder or material that could be used to make shelter or give warmth. Large donations of food can be accommodated in a centre such as Johannesburg and then taken down,” society spokeswoman Christine Kuch said in a statement on Saturday. Farmers in the north-eastern Free State reported huge stock losses as a result of the heavy snow and severe cold. – Sapa